Goldwater believed that individual economic and civil liberties prosper best when government stays out of the marketplace.

Limited government meant that taxpayers’ dollars would be spent prudently, with the least amount of taxation accompanied by real balanced budgets, no deficits, and actual surpluses.

He would never support the massive deficit spending that has resulted in today’s $17 trillion long-term debt. He was no fan of corporate welfare or spending billions on useless weapons systems supported by Congress, but not requested by the Pentagon.